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I think theInternetis a scary place. Yes, me. Some days I find myself horrified to find the lowliest of criminal bastards trying to steal our livelihoods.

Yes, people, there are criminals out there and they want your money or they want to use you to make money. What’s even more scary is the lengths to which they are willing to go, even risking YOU. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

I received an email saying that I was being offered a job as a “Regional Assistant” र, though the details weren’t given, the email suggested that it was a legitimate opportunity. I replied asking about where they’d received my details and also about what they would require of me.

Being the skeptic I am, I thought I could spot scammers a mile away. How fortunate that I can stilllaugh at the idea.

A few hours later, they replied indicating that I’d soon receive further instructions. They’d “probably” been referred to me by a friend and they had a pile of referrals and so couldn’t specify which friend had recommended me. I waited patiently and left it to the back of my mind. “They’ve probably found a good candidate already and I’ve lost out”, I thought. “How nice that a friend might refer me. Obviously I’m Awesome.” (and daft :-/)

So later on, I receive my email with my “further instructions”. This is where I finally realised that I was dealing with scammers:

Hi. We’d like to start a trial task. Our customer will make a bank transfer to you this week. Please go to our site <site omitted> to submit the banking details where the transfer will go to. Once we’ve established a good transaction history, you will receive between 2-3 transfers per week (amounts of about R10 000 each except the first trial transfers).Please confirm that you can start. We don’t send any transfers to your account until we receive confirmation from you.On Monday you will receive notification, detailed information and instructions regarding the transfers. Thank you and have a lovely weekend.

Say what??? I checked out the web site in question and, without a doubt, this is a money laundering scheme done by professionals. They know what they’re doing and they probably launder millions every month. What’s more is that, inevitably, they will screw you over and get the cops to arrest YOU. These criminals can leave evidence behind implicating you even if all you’ve done is diligently moved money from one place to another… and kept a small percentage for yourself. 😛

Money laundering is where illegitimate money (stolen, probably) is transferred via third parties to appear more legitimate. You’re an accessory to the crime and, even worse, you’re even likely to be the victim of it. Recognise when an opportunity is too good to be true. I was fooled for a short while. Next up, given that a victim might give out a lot of personal details, the scammers might steal your identity and start to implicate you in fraudulent activities without you ever having done a thing.

If you happen to have already given any details such as the above where they wanted my banking details, contact your bank and inform them of the situation. They will give you the best possible advice on what to do next. If you’ve already responded to the mail but haven’t yet already given them the information they want, don’t reply any further. I’d also suggest calling your local police for further advice.